Apartment 11C
by Captored On The Dance Floor
Summary: Sollux Captor is running from his past; Eridan Ampora is attempting to put off his future. When the two cross paths one lonely night at a small town bar, little did either of them know that one single night that may have meant nothing to almost both of them would result in something that would mean almost everything... (AU, rated T but is subject to change)
1. new begiiniing2

**A/N: Okay, before you start reading, I would like to make a few things clear**

**First off, this is an Erisol fic. Therefore, if you don't like Erisol (and there will be a lot of Erisol), then 1.) Why the heck are you even reading this? and 2.) Just don't read it.**

**Second, there is a high possibility that there will be some male-on-male sexual action in this story, and there is a definite chance it will be mentioned a lot. If it gets to the point where there is sex, I will label it in the chapter title so those who are uncomfortable with it can just skip that chapter(s). Though I'm not the best at writing smut, so the possibility of smut may not actually happen. But I just figured to put a warning on it anyways.**

**Third, I do not own any of these characters! They belong to Queen Andrew Hussie, not me.**

**Fourth, I'd like to give a shout out to my beta, BloodsuckerHater, who I'm very excited to work with throughout this fanfic.**

**That's all I need to say, so I hope you enjoy this story! And please review and/or fav :)**

**-Skye**

* * *

As Sollux Captor finally got off the freeway, the only thing he could think of to describe his mood was absolutely fucking relieved. Dealing with both ignorant asshats going fifty billion miles a fucking hour and complete idiots who didn't fucking know how to switch lanes was just about enough to make him flip his shit. Sollux didn't have time for people like that; nor was he in the frame of mind for them to ruin his already-shitty mood.

Though that was over now (thankfully), so with his shitty mood in stride, Sollux drove his beat-up, hand-me-down, yellow Volkswagen Bug that he both loved yet despised into the small town that served as his destination.

Alternia, Illinois: just your average, run-of-the-mill small town smack dab in the middle of nowhere. And luckily, it was over four hours away from his hometown of Chicago, which is why Sollux had picked this specific town to waste his life away in.

Nobody knew him here.

Perfect.

He drove down the main road, catching a small glimpse of the sights to see. Didn't seem like much at first glance – there were a few small shops doting the street here and there, consisting of a cafe-type place, a video game store (definitely something he would check out later), a car workshop, and some run down video store. There was also a bar, which he also made a note of to check out later, a public library, a park, and a few other places he only managed to get a brief look of.

Eyes sweeping the streets behind his signature red and blue 3D-type glasses, Sollux also observed that though there were people strolling down the streets, there weren't too many; nothing like the crowded streets of Chicago that he absolutely loathed. God, how he had wanted to stab every single fuckass he had to shove through to just make his way down the streets there.

But at last, Sollux finally found what he had been looking for and made a sharp turn into the parking lot, settling into a car lane. Turning off the car, he got out and opened his trunk to dig out his belongings, consisting of his suitcase, backpack, and laptop case, Sollux looked up at the average-sized apartment complex, dubbed Hive Apartments, where he would now be living.

Before moving, when he had been looking at vacant residences, he'd noticed that he could hardly afford even these shitty apartments... at least, by himself that is.

He then saw that there seemed to be an opening for a roommate in one of the apartments. Apparently, the poor sap was having a hard time paying his rent, and even though Sollux would've preferred an apartment all to himself, he would rather be stuck with some penniless roommate than be living on the streets. Or, God forbid, back in Chicago.

So, he'd called up the owner of the apartment, and after a quick discussion, Sollux was now the co-renter of apartment 11C.

On the eleventh floor as well. Joy.

Still, it was better than nothing, he tried to reason, letting his gaze trail up to the impressively tall structure. After a moment, Sollux sighed and picked up his luggage before trudging into the apartment building. Passing through the main doors, what he saw next was definitely a glorious sight...not.

It seemed (to him at least) that whatever deity up in the sky was just trying to piss Sollux off even more, because the elevator ever-so-conveniently had a fucking Out of Order sign taped to it.

"Oh fuck me!" Sollux groaned with utter distaste as he saw it, mentally facepalming. "Just to add to my fucking piece of shit day!"

Sollux then decided that he didn't have time for this shit. Like, at all. He'd had a long enough day and he'd honestly prefer to sleep in his car and postpone walking up eleven flights of stairs until the next day. So, trudging back to his car and shoving all of his shit back into his trunk, Sollux decided that he really deserved a drink.

Checking the clock on his phone, he saw that it was about eight in the evening, which meant that the bar hopefully wouldn't be too crowded; as he'd been to enough bars to learn that they didn't really pick up until about nine or so. And, just maybe, he could meet some decent people who would make his first few days in this new town a little more tolerable?

The thought wasn't exactly likely, since Sollux wasn't exactly what most people dubbed a "people person", but the thought was nice.

Luckily, the local bar was located just down the street from the apartment. And, as Sollux made his way to the dimly lit building, he had no idea that the events that would occur that night in the bar would be not-so-perfect the start to his new beginning.


	2. a not-2o-plea2ant 2tart

**A/N: In case you didn't notice, I did in fact change the title of this fanfic. I noticed that Love Me Dead was extremely overused in the land of titles, and I wanted something more original. Nothing else has changed though, just the title.**

**Once again, I'd love to thank my amazing beta, BloodsuckerHater, for looking over this chapter. She's just awesome and so far I've just loved all the work she's done for me. **

**Don't forget to review, and I hope you enjoy chapter two! :)**

* * *

Sollux had expected a peaceful night...or as peaceful you could get in a bar. He would grab a drink or two (probably just two, as two was his lucky number and he had a feeling he would be needing a lot of luck in this new town), relax, and maybe meet some people who weren't complete idiots.

What he didn't expect was to wake up in a bed that wasn't his, in a room that wasn't his; and, most of all, with a man whose identity was completely unknown to him sitting at the edge of said bed, leering at him over a purple mug that had steam seething out the top.

"What the fuck...?" Sollux muttered, blinking a few times as he groggily sat up, rubbing his now-aching head. He felt like absolute shit, which was a sign to him that just maybe he had a bit more than two drinks. Granted, he didn't exactly remember much (hardly anything, actually) of his one-man night out, so he couldn't exactly be certain of how much alcohol he consumed. Though the intense throbbing in his temple gave away the telltale sign of a completely wasted drunkard, so he'd concluded that it was a lot of alcohol, a lot more than he both intended on or was used to.

Glancing around the room, Sollux tried to get his bearings, but through a hungover-induced stupor noticed a bit too late that the world was an extremely fuzzy haze at that very moment. Before the youngest of the Captor clan could comprehend that his strange red and blue glasses that resembled those old-time 3D glasses weren't on his face, and that their missing presence were causing his current lack of vision, he caught the blurred image of the strange man's hand reaching out to him, holding what seemed to be his glasses.

_...Oh_, Sollux thought, finally realizing the cause of his blurry sight. He snatched the glasses from the man and put them on, glad to finally get a good look at this mysterious person.

Adjusting his glasses to perch on the bridge of his nose, he looked over at the man. The stranger was...well, Sollux didn't exactly have a specific word to describe him. He was donned only in a pair of light blue striped pajama bottoms, showing off his pale torso and subtle six-pack. His short, black hair, featuring a short yet vibrant purple streak near the front of his hairline and going down vertically, was tousled and looked a tad greasy; and yet he had this arrogant air to him that made Sollux dislike him almost instantly.

Now Sollux was even more curious about why exactly this man was in the room with him...and why he was in the room, for that matter.

"You snore when you sleep," the man commented, a sly smirk on his face. His tone sounded proper and snooty; yet another reason for Sollux to dislike him.

"Who the fuck are you?" Sollux asked in response, obviously not caring about his already-known snoring problem.

The man chuckled slightly, taking a sip out of his mug before replying, "Shouldn't you know? The way you were moanin' my name last night made seem like it was somethin' you would never forget."

"...What?" Sollux asked, his eyes widening in both shock and...well, a bit of fear.

_Is he implying we...no, he couldn't be_, Sollux thought, an urgent tone slipping into his thoughts. Several implications started to rush around Sollux's mind, all with endings he really didn't like either. _We couldn't have done... that!_ Sollux swallowed nervously at the thought, looking completely away from the purple streaked man, trying to convince himself of his "heterosexuality".

Sitting up straighter, Sollux thought indignantly, _I'm not gay!_

He squirmed under the certainty of his own statement, still thinking. There had been that one time at that party where...no, we don't talk about that time. Sollux's expression darkened as the memory tried to resurface, quickly tucking it away. He didn't need another reminder of that incident.

The man, however, snickered softly, completely oblivious to Sollux's current evaluation of his sexuality as he leaned in closer, eyeing him. "You seriously don't remember? Wow, Sol, that's a bit hurtful, if you want my honesty here."

Tearing away from his current thoughts, Sollux couldn't help but roll his eyes at that. Yep, he definitely didn't like this guy. There was no doubting that. Of course, the stupid nickname hadn't helped...wait a second...

"How do you even know my name? And what kind of nickname is Sol?!"

He knew the answer to his question was probably a bit obvious - as he assumed he must have told this stranger it the night before - but right now he could really give a damn.

The man - who Sollux decided that, until he knew his name, would be dubbed Mr. Purple Streak - just looked at him, his expression both a bit amused and a bit offended. Although the offended part was just the topless man faking it. Sollux didn't know that, so fooling him was something the stranger relished in for some reason. "Wow, for a guy who seems to be confused and me being probably the only one who can give him answers, that was rude. Besides, I think Sol is a perfectly good nickname. Short and sweet."

The guy had a point, Sollux had to admit, but that didn't mean he would apologize or anything. He didn't even know if Mr. Purple Streak wanted an apology; though if he did, Sollux couldn't care less.

So he just rolled his eyes.

"Well then, smart ass, are you even going to give me any information or is talking to you just a waste of my time?"

Mr. Purple Streak just shrugged, taking a sip of whatever was in his steaming mug. "I dunno Sol. I think that's somethin' for you to decide.

Which is code for no, Sollux decided, rolling his eyes again. He pulled the sheets away and slung his sore legs over the side of the bed, planning to leave quickly and hopefully never having to deal with this guy ever again.

But the flash of his own pale skin made him realize that not only was he just in his boxers, but that leaving wasn't a choice until he found his clothes; not unless he wanted to give Mr. Purple Streak the satisfaction of watching him walk away basically naked. Which Sollux was sure the creep would enjoy, but he refused to give him that satisfaction.

"Why the fuck am I in my underwear?!" he shrieked, realizing with a sinking feeling that this was just even more fucking evidence of last night's events. Looking around the man's (he assumed it was his) room in search of his missing clothes, Sollux finally spotted them lying in a crinkled lump near the doorway.

Mr. Purple Streak just chuckled again, taking another sip of his drink.

Now Sollux was just getting annoyed with this idiot's lack of a proper answer, so he decided to get up and grab his clothes, planning on going with his original plan of leaving right after and hopefully never seeing the guy ever again.

Stomping over to the lump, Sollux bent down to grab his clothes, only to hear the man hum in what sounded like satisfaction, before stifling a laugh. "What the hell is so funny?" he asked sourly, pulling on his shirt and turning around to face the laughing creep.

The guy was totally, and completely, checking him out; downright to a longing gaze sweeping Sollux's body, licking his lips, and wiggling his eyebrows suggestively. The man didn't even bother moving his eyes away from where they currently were - glued to Sollux's ass (not literally though, because that would've been creepy and would've sent Sollux over the edge).

"You fucking creep!" he exclaimed, covering his ass with his hands (as if that helped) as his cheeks burned with anger. Sollux glared at the guy, who just chuckled in response, giving him an innocent sort of smirk.

"What?" he asked coyly, the warped innocence in his tone matching his smirk perfectly. "I'm just lookin' at you, Sol. What's so wrong with that?"

"It's fucking creepy is what's wrong with it! I don't even know your name!"

"Oh, but I know yours, Sol," Mr. Purple Streak replied sharply, setting his mug on the ground. Getting up from the bed and stretching in a languid manner, extending his arms well above his head, the purple streaked man then took a step towards Sollux, his smirk growing wider as he continued, "I actually know a lot more about you than just that. Like how tickling your stomach turns you on and-"

"Oh my God, no! Just shut up! Stop right there!" Sollux briskly interrupted, a disgusted expression on his face as he tried to get rid of the images now forming in his head. He already had a good guess as to what exactly happened between him and this creep the night prior, and despite everything, hoped to God or whatever deity was up there that by some miracle he was wrong.

Moving around the stranger's advancing form, Sollux hastily slipped his jeans on and double checked to make sure his phone was in his pocket (it was, thankfully), before rushing to the door, trying to escape as quickly as humanly possible.

"Sol, where are you goin'?" Mr. Purple Streak whined, trailing after him as Sollux made a beeline towards the door. The man knew,obviously, but he also knew that his questions were irritating poor ol' Sol, and that was just downright funny to him.

"Up your ass," Sollux replied dryly, storming out the door and slamming it in Mr. Purple Streak's face.

He almost ran to the stairwell as soon as the door shut behind him, willingly to do anything to put distance between him and the stranger's apartment. Fuming, he hurried down the stairs, stepping quickly, not taking notice as he jumped down steps to pick haste.

Luckily though, Sollux was soon in the lobby of the apartment complex he was in, huffing and puffing after his quick escape. He scanned the room, trying to find a sign or a map that would tell him where he was...and it was then that he noticed something he didn't like. At all.

He, by some unfortunate coincidence, was in the Hive.

Fuck.

Fuck.

Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck!

Resisting the urge to bang his head into a fucking wall, Sollux rushed outside to reassure himself that he wasn't hallucinating (and, quite frankly, he was hoping he was). But, sure enough, his yellow Bug was parked right where it was yesterday.

Groaning, Sollux trudged to his car, opening the door and flopping down in the front seat. He took a few deep breaths as he covered his face with his hands, trying to calm his nerves.

After a long moment of hearing his shallow breathing, Sollux finally reasoned that maybe it wouldn't be as bad as he thought. As long as him and stupid fucking Mr. Purple Streak weren't neighbors, or on the same floor, or even remotely close to each other, it might not be so bad.

...Right?

* * *

A few hours later, after hitting up a gas station for a Monster (he was hoping that the massive amount of caffeine would help him with the awful hangover he was enduring) and taking a long nap in his car, it was finally time for the moment of truth.

Time to see the new residence of Sollux Captor. A.K.A. himself, if it wasn't obvious.

He was standing at the edge of the stairs with his suitcase set on the ground and his backpack (toting his laptop case) slung over his shoulder; as he had seen that the elevator still wasn't in service, nor did it seem like it would be any time soon, much to his utter dismay. Sollux glared at the staircase that would take him to his destination, with its seemingly non-ending steps that went well beyond his line of vision. Right now, walking up those stairs seemed like absolute hell, but frankly it was now or never if he wanted to get this over with. Which he did.

Sighing as he begrudgingly agreed with himself, he picked up his suitcase and began his trek of hell.

After about five minutes (which felt more like twenty to Sollux), he finally made it to the eleventh floor, almost tripping over the last gap as he stepped onto the stable ground of the hallway . "If I have to do that every single day, I might bash myself in the face with a hammer," he grumbled to himself, eyes glazing over the door numbers before spotting his new apartment address. Luckily, it was just across the hall from the staircase, so in a few short strides he walked over and pulled out his key. Jamming it into the doorknob, Sollux unceremoniously opened the door and walked in, getting a look around...

And what he saw made him almost scream.

"Hello Sol," Mr. Purple Streak greeted from where he was sitting on the couch.


	3. roomiie from hell

For about a minute or so, all Sollux could do was stand there in shock, his mouth gaping open like a fish out of water. A loud bang quickly filled the room due to his suitcase plopping onto the ground as Sollux's grip on it loosened, but it still wasn't enough to shake him from his daze.

_No. No no no no no no no! This guy can't be my roommate! It has to be a mistake! For what's left of my sanity, it has to be!_ he thought frantically, eyes not tearing away from the figure on the couch.

Mr. Purple Streak, however, just stood up, not even remotely fazed by the reappearance of his most recent fuck buddy, even chuckling a bit as he smoothed out his shirt. He was wearing a different apparel from earlier, obviously ready for the day. He was donned in a crisp black v-neck, dark blue denim jeans, and some stupid blue striped scarf. Mr. Purple Streak was also wearing a pair of those stupid nerdy glasses that were now apparently "hipster" glasses (which Sollux felt like was a way of mocking him for some reason) and his hair was gelled up in perfect spikes near the front.

Basically, the image before Sollux was of a casual open-minded roommate, not of a dude who was trying to fuck around with him every chance he got.

It was irritating to say the least.

"Well, Sol, fancy seein' you back here," the man said after a moment, smirking at his gaping new roommate. "Looks like we're gonna be roomies, eh? It'll be nice having someone around to help me with the rent 'n all..."

Sollux couldn't help but notice that the guy had some weird sort of accent...or at least, it seemed like one to him. _Great_, he thought, _yet another annoying trait to make him hate this guy even more._

Thinking about it, he did find it odd that he hadn't noticed the accent when he had talked on the phone with Mr. Purple Streak just a week or so prior, but that was all in the past now; and just something he honestly couldn't care less about.

Therefore, ridiculous accent was the least of his problems.

"...You've got to be fucking kidding me," Sollux finally spat out, mentally groaning as he figured that his guess was unfortunately correct. That, or this guy was just really weird and seemed to enjoy tormenting him to an elaborate extent that was on the verge of stalker-ish. That didn't seem to be the occasion though, which honestly relieved Sollux the slightest bit.

But just barely.

"Bingo," Mr. Purple Streak replied with a grin, walking over to Sollux and promptly holding out his hand to shake. "Eridan Ampora's the name, since ya seemed to have forgotten earlier."

Sollux just rolled his eyes at this and ignored Eridan's hand, looking around the apartment instead. There wasn't much to it, really - an average sized living room with a black leather couch, a dark wooden coffee table clear of clutter (much unlike Sollux's own coffee table back in Chicago, which happened to be very cluttered), and a small flat screen TV that was currently turned off. There was a small balcony that was connected to the living room through a glass door, and an adjoining kitchen, which was equally clean and had a fishbowl on the counter. There was also another hallway, which Sollux assumed led to Eridan's room (and hopefully his own room), alongside a bathroom.

He knew he would end up checking that out more sooner than later though, much to his own dismay.

"Yeah, whatever," Sollux sourly remarked, eyeing the wall behind Eridan and picking his suitcase up, not really caring. "Where can I put my shit?"

"You're impatient," Eridan commented, chuckling lightly despite that not being even remotely funny. "Right this way then."

He led Sollux down the hall, standing a bit too close to Sollux for his own tastes as the two squeezed down the ridiculously small hallway. "Will you fucking move?" he asked dryly, shoving Eridan a bit as he attempted to keep his backpack steady with his free hand. "I feel like if you get any closer you might try and fuck me."

"Did I really give off that impression to you?" Eridan asked coyly in response, smirking at Sollux. "I must have really been impressive."

Sollux glanced over, glaring as his lips twitched into a sneer. "How the fuck should I even know that? You obviously fucking know I don't remember shit from last night, and apparently you're just going to be a rude cocksucker and not tell me," Sollux emphasized with a sharp jab. "So it looks like I'll never know what sort of impression you gave me."

Not even a minute later, they reached what appeared to be Sollux's new room and Sollux promptly shoved past Eridan before he could get a chance to reply, leaving him at the doorway.

He looked around the empty room with a scowl as he mentally situated himself, trying to determine if it was worth all the trouble he had gone through. The walls were a boring beige color, with a matching carpeted floor that was thankfully free of suspicious stains that Sollux would have had to stay weary of. There was a door that led to what he thought was the closet, and there was also several sockets decorating the lower wall, which Sollux was a bit grateful for (he practically needed technology to live). The room in itself was small and empty and just generally boring. Nothing that seemed to outweigh the trouble he had seen for it.

A thought then suddenly occurred to him and, throwing his suitcase down, Sollux stifled an antagonized groan. The movers weren't supposed to come with the rest of his belongings (which weren't much, just stuff he couldn't fit in his car) until tomorrow. Among that stuff, however, were his mattress and mattress frame, so it looked like until then, much to his complete and utter joy because this day had just been going oh-so well already, he would be sleeping on the floor.

Sollux began to curse himself as he eyed the floor. He knew he should have planned the movers a bit more carefully, but no, he just had to have been in a hurry to get out of Chicago.

Now look where it got him.

Eridan seemed to notice his predicament as well and gave a small snicker as he got up from his current position of leaning against the doorframe and joined Sollux in the room, putting his hands on his hips as he looked down at his new roommate's luggage. "Is that all you've got?"

"No, I have more shoved up my ass," Sollux deadpanned, not even looking at him.

"...Huh, I never would've guessed that, Sol," Eridan said with a growing smirk, deciding to play a bit with Sollux and his current fuming emotions. "Because, uh, you were quite tight 'down there', if I do so remem-"

Sollux interrupted him by letting out a loud, exasperated groan that clearly said "I'm am not in the mood for you or your shit". The sudden and quite weird reaction Sollux gave made Eridan hush, looking at his roommate with slightly-widened eyes. The groan went on a little longer, a sort of vent for the frustrated Sollux, before he finally cried out, "Oh my God, shut the fuck up. I've had a long enough week and I am not even close to the fucking mood to hear the guy I don't even remember doing anything with talking about how he did things to me that I, as a straight, 100% heterosexual man, do not believe I would particularly enjoy. Now, will you please go the fuck away and leave me to wallow in my misery in peace?"

Having at last shared his agitated thoughts, Sollux took a deep breath, exhausted oxygen-wise after his rant, and slowly let it out; the air whistling out of his lips the only thing heard in the silent room as Eridan comprehended what he just said.

It didn't seem like he would have anything to say after that, but then the purple streaked man rolled his eyes, eyeing Sollux. "Gee, Sol, I was just tryin' to lighten the mood," he said, looking at him with a blank expression. "But fine, I guess I'll get out of your hair if you feel so strongly about it, although what you said was fairly...well, rude. I think I deserve an apology."

He turned on his heels and dramatically flipped his scarf (which was drooping a bit) over his shoulder and, once knowing the end was back to where it belonged, sauntered out, gently shutting the door behind him and leaving Sollux alone.

Just like he wanted.

The young Captor watched Eridan shut the door and sighed in relief, grateful to be by himself once again. Turning around to scope out his currently-empty room (aside from him and his thoughts, of course), he decided that he should probably get to work on getting it fixed up just a bit.

Most of all, it was important that he hooked up the essential thing to keeping his sanity - his precious computer.

Agreeing with this plan, Sollux then crouched down and rummaged through his backpack, eventually pulling out a small pill tube filled about halfway with medium sized white pills. He unscrewed the cap and dropped two of the pills (his required dose) into his hand, shutting the tube and dropping it back in his bag before taking the pills, dry swallowing them as he was used to doing it.

He had a feeling the rest of his day would be a long one.


	4. glub glub and fii2h2tiick2

**A/N: I felt the need to warn you readers that the next few chapters are probably just going to be filler chapters to get to the next plot point. The way I write is that I like to include a lot of details, hence all the fillers. So I'm sorry to anyone who is bored, things will pick up soon! I promise!**

**Also, I will be starting school this Tuesday (ugh -_-) and therefore I won't be posting as much because a few other things in my life will also be starting up, making me fairly busy. There won't be a set schedule as to when I upload or not, but I just felt I should make you guys aware.**

**Thank you so much for reading this story, and don't forget to review! :)**

* * *

After about a few hours wasted on getting the essentials done (which was code for hanging what little clothes he had brought on the hangers that Eridan had ever-so-graciously left in the closet, trying to find a place for his other belongings before giving up and pushing them to a corner, and setting up his laptop), Sollux had come to the conclusion that he was starving. The consistent growl of his stomach and the headache that he was suffering from may have had some influence on whether or not Sollux actually needed food to survive, which proved to be a definite yes at this point.

So, despite the fact that he would prefer to hole up in his room and play Minecraft and possibly hack into whatever electronics Eridan owned by the use of a software he had created on his laptop than even risk crossing paths with the creep, Sollux begrudgingly got up off the floor and opened the door, poking his head out into the hallway tentatively to look for any signs of his new roommate.

He didn't see him sitting on the couch, which he had a perfect view of from where he was standing, so he assumed that the purple streaked man was probably somewhere else.

He just hoped that he wasn't in the kitchen.

Stepping away from the doorway and walking down the hall, Sollux couldn't help but admire how quiet everything was. Back in Chicago, the sound of cars and other vehicles, as well as the few street performers that seemed to target Sollux's old apartment complex as the perfect area to make an easy buck or two, could always be heard; even from where he lived on one of the highest floors of the building. But here, it was silent. Peaceful.

Peace was something Sollux definitely wasn't used to experiencing during his twenty years of life. He had a feeling that he should enjoy it while it lasted; if it even did last, that is.

As he made it to the kitchen (fortunately not crossing paths with Eridan along the way), Sollux took the opportunity to take in the place that was now (unfortunately) his home. The kitchen, as he noticed, like the rest of the house, was unnaturally clean. The stench of lemon-scented cleaner was alarmingly potent and gave Sollux an even bigger headache, as well as heightening his annoyance at the level of cleanness that was found around the apartment. The granite countertops were virtually bare, aside from a wilted vase of pink flowers (he was surprised that Eridan hadn't thrown those away yet) and a small fish tank that he'd noticed earlier but didn't care enough to go look at.

He momentarily wondered if the flowers were given to his creepy roommate, but he also figured that Eridan seemed like the type to buy flowers for himself, so that was probably the most likely guess. Even though Sollux couldn't really seem to give a fuck about Eridan and his flower buying habits.

Or Eridan himself, for the matter

A sudden burbling of water knocked Sollux out of his train of thought, causing him to turn back to the fish tank. Leaning over so that he was about face to face with it, he decided he might as well get a good look at the thing.

There was an obnoxious, bright purple gravel lining the bottom of the tank, as well as a little castle thing for the fish to swim around in. Not only that, but there was a stupid plastic sign embedded in the gravel that read "No Fishing"; its corniness not lost, especially considering the owner.

But the main attraction of the tank is what Sollux was the most interested in. The fish in there was some blue beta fish...but it had two different colored eyes. One blue and one brown.

Just like Sollux's own eyes.

The similarity struck him, as he wasn't used to seeing other people - now fish - to have the same pair of eyes like he did.

He watched the fish swim around for a bit more, his interest in the thing steadily decreasing as he watched it go in and out of the little castle, before tapping lightly on the glass to see if he could get the stupid thing's attention. He did manage to, but only for a second or two before it decided that swimming around would be a better use of its time.

Big shocker there.

Reverting back to his main goal of getting food and curing his hunger, Sollux went back into the kitchen, hoping to get a better look around as he abruptly noticed a neon pink sticky note posted on the fridge. He raised an eyebrow, and as curiosity took over him, walked over and snatched the note off the fridge. Adjusting his drooping glasses so that they were resting on the bridge of his nose once more, Sollux squinted in order to read the note.

Written in an annoyingly swoopy handwriting that resembled more of a female's handwriting than a man's (which honestly didn't surprise Sollux a bit) the note read:

_hey sol! i had to run out to do a feww errands. dont miss me too much ;) also feed glub glub if you dont mind. thanks!_

_lovve, eridan_

_Who the fuck is Glub Glub?_ was Sollux's first thought, rolling his eyes as he reread the note. After a moment of realization, he figured that Glub Glub was probably the fish he'd been watching just moments ago. _What a stupid fucking name_, he thought to himself as he began searching for the alleged food, peering around the countertops with a scowl. He hoped the idiot at least had had the decency to leave the fish food out...and it seemed like he did, as there was a canister of food right next to the tank. Sollux wasn't surprised he hadn't noticed that, but he couldn't care less about that fact at the moment.

He opened up the can and dropped a few flakes into Glub Glub's bowl, who made a beeline for his dinner, nibbling at the pieces with diligence. Fed a fish with flying colors, that's definitely something I can cross off my bucket list now, Sollux thought sarcastically.

Having done that, it was now the time Sollux finally got to do what he'd intended on, and his whole reason for leaving his room in the first place.

Get some god damn food.

Making his way over to the fridge, he opened it...only to find it practically bare. The only things in there that somewhat counted as substance were a half drank container of orange juice and some butter (which, to Sollux, seemed to imply that there should be bread as well, but by quickly looking in the cupboard he found that his premonition had been wrong).

"What the hell does this guy live off of?" Sollux grumbled to himself as he opened the freezer, hoping that there would at least be some Popsicles or frozen TV dinners or something to sate him and stop his rumbling stomach.

But the only thing in there was a box of fucking fish sticks.

That was when Sollux confirmed that he was probably going to die. If there was something else that Sollux had to admit he couldn't live without, it was junk food. He just prayed to God that Eridan wasn't a vegan or something, or else there would be an even bigger problem.

Eventually, Sollux supposed that the fish sticks were better than nothing, so after managing to find a plate, he dumped some of the fried fish (he didn't actually know if fish sticks were made entirely out of fish) onto it and put it in Eridan's annoyingly spotless microwave.

When they were done heating, with scalded fingers he pulled the steaming plate out and made a beeline towards his room, making a new plan to not leave it until he absolutely had to.

Hopefully the fish sticks would tide him over.


	5. honey chiicken and memoriie2

**A/N: So as school and life in general have been more busy for me than expected, I'm sorry to say that the upload time for each chapter won't be as often as I had predicted :( I hope to at least have a chapter up a month, and I also hope the spotty upload time won't deter any of you from reading, as this story will continue on**

**I've also decided that this story will be a lot longer than predicted (as I originally planned ten or so chapters) so at least there's a bright side to all this!**

**Thank you all so much for reading, don't forget to review, and I hope you all enjoy :)**

* * *

After Sollux had returned to his new room with his fish sticks in hand, he decided to go on Minecraft to hopefully kill off time for the rest of the night and into the next morning, when the movers (hopefully) arrived.

Lately, Sollux had decided to stay wary of the many, many Minecraft forums and servers he was a part of - some that he'd been on for so long he'd lost track of, and others that he'd only joined more recently - and had been sticking solely to survival mode, playing all by himself. With all the mods and texture packs he had set up for the game, it was easy to get entranced in it for hours upon end. It was an added bonus not being nagged by other players as well; which sometimes happened so often that he wanted to blow whichever player who was bothering him's brains out (in which case he normally made up for by hacking into their computer and making the game go haywire instead).

Oh, the joys of being an expert hacker...

Playing Minecraft was one of the very few ways Sollux could easily get lost in his thoughts as he explored the vast realms, and he whole-heartedly intended to embrace those thoughts as he began to start playing; just that and nothing else.

But, obviously, things can never just go as planned for poor Sollux, and as he heard the door of the apartment open, he knew his night was probably going to be ruined.

"Hello, I'm back!" Eridan's annoyingly perky, accent-filled voice announced as he entered his apartment. "Sol, get your bum out here!"

That asshole's voice was almost enough to make Sollux want to bang his head against a wall, with his persistency being a close second. He thought it was a bit sad that he'd hardly known the guy 24 hours and he already knew what a relentless little bastard he was. But hey, that wasn't exactly Sollux's fault either.

"I like how you just automatically expect me to do that!" he replied loudly, somewhat curious as to if Eridan could even hear him through the door.

"Aw, c'mon Sol! Please?!" Eridan pleaded in response. Obviously he could hear Sollux just fine.

"I'm busy!"

"Doing what?"

"None of your business!"

"It'll only take a few minutes..."

"And I don't even want to spend a second around you!"

"...It involves food," Eridan said coyly after a moment of silence, a small yet hopeful smirk creeping onto his face. If Eridan knew something, it would be that almost any man could be convinced to do almost anything when food is involved. After all, wasn't the way to a man's heart through his stomach?

Now this peaked Sollux's interest a bit. Those fish sticks he had earlier didn't exactly tide him over, and he had to admit he was pretty hungry. Thinking it over, he could bet that his hunger would only get worse as the night went on if he didn't do something about it.

Mentally sighing in self-defeat, he replied to Eridan, "...What kind of food?"

"Whatever food you want. On me."

_He's being awfully generous...he must really want something_, Sollux thought warily. He was a bit suspicious as to what exactly it was that Eridan wanted, but he figured that if food was involved then it wouldn't be quite as bad.

Sollux was quite comfortable where he was sitting at though and didn't particularly feel like moving, but he begrudgingly shut his laptop, set it on the ground, and got up, making his way to the living room. "Alright, what do you want?" he asked dryly, glancing around to find the purple streaked man.

Eridan, however, was actually in the kitchen putting away groceries. He was leaning over to put something away in the fridge, giving Sollux a clear view of his ass...which distracted Sollux for only a mere second.

"Oh...nothin' really. Just figured we could chat a bit," his muffled voice called out, still bent over as he continued to stuff the fridge with food. Though Sollux couldn't see it due to the current angle he was standing at, Eridan's smirk grew wider at the growing irritation he hoped his new roommate was feeling.

Sollux was, in fact, feeling it as he scowled at his roommate's back. "So you seriously made me get up from my current spot and walk all the way out here, even going so far as to bribing me with food, just so we could chat?!" he asked, his tone a bit exasperated.

"Yup!" Eridan replied cheekily, straightening himself and moving over to grab another grocery bag (he had about five or so from what Sollux could tell, as they were all sitting in a sort of big clump on the floor), giving Sollux a full view of his smug smirk as he did so. "But no worries, Sol, I'm still keepin' my promise of food. Wouldn't wanna leave my new pal hungry, now would I?"

"I'm not your fucking pal, asshole," he spat out, turning and walking a few steps before flopping down on Eridan's uncomfortably stiff, black leather couch; slumping into the cushion before continuing, "I'm just your fucking roommate who is only staying here now because I literally have nowhere else to go unless I want to sleep in my car or in some shitty motel until I'm flat broke. And I'm not particularly fond of either, so I'm stuck here."

There was a tense silence after Sollux finished speaking, the only sound being the crinkling rustle of the bag Eridan was digging through. Attempting to be witty, the purple streaked man racked his brain to think of an appropriate reply, not wanting to let Sollux have the last word.

Unfortunately, the silence that filled the room was dragged out even longer, as Sollux watched a struggling Eridan continue to put his various groceries away. He was quite aware of his roommate's eyes on him, but his brain was still torn apart left and right as he tried ever-so-desperately to think of a goddamn witty response.

But at last, Eridan finally replied with , "Do you like Chinese food?"

"...Yeah, why?" Sollux asked tentatively after a moment, momentarily surprised at the question. He'd expected something more along the lines of Eridan making some bitchy excuse about him needing to be "polite" and expecting some sort of apology for Sollux's intentional rudeness.

"'Cause there's this great Chinese place in town an' I was thinkin' it sounded good for dinner but I didn't wanna just order ahead an' risk havin' you bitch 'cause you didn't like it, so askin' seemed like the best option," Eridan explained as he finished putting away the last of the groceries. He then strode over to the living room, plopping down on the other side of the couch and flashing Sollux a cheeky, eye roll worthy grin. "So whaddya say? Chinese for two?"

"Eh, guess it sounds alright," Sollux supposed, shrugging. "I'm assuming you have some sort of takeout menu on you?"

"...No, I actually don't," Eridan admitted, adjusting his pretentious hipster scarf, which Sollux mentally dubbed it as that particular moment. "But just tell me what ya like. They've got just about everythin'."

"I doubt they'll have what I like," Sollux scoffed, his mind drifting back to the last time he'd eaten Chinese food.

It was the night before he made his big move to Alternia, and the only reason he'd gone there was because it was one of the few places near his apartment complex that was open at late hours. It was 12:47 PM exactly, he remembered.

That Chinese place was also one of the few places he knew of that served honey chicken, which was Sollux's absolute favorite.

Reflecting over the memory for a bit, he also started to recall the horrible encounter he'd had with AA's sister as he went to go pick up his order. And unfortunately, that was something he didn't want to even remotely remember.

"Well what is it? Tell me, Sol," Eridan asked, abruptly interrupting his thoughts.

Sollux had to admit, he was a bit grateful for the sudden intrusion, as he knew that just the mere thought of AA's sister would eventually turn into something worse, and he did not want to have Eridan see him upset.

Sighing, he shrugged nonchalantly, flicking at the couch's material. "This honey chicken shit. Like I said, in case you went momentarily deaf when I told you, they probably don't fucking have it."

Now it was Eridan's turn to think for a moment, scrunching up his forehead a bit as he mentally reviewed the menu (he'd gone to this place so often he practically had the menu memorized by heart).

"Well that's where you're wrong, Sol," he said after a pause, his cocky smirk morphing into one of gloating. "I actually believe they do, in fact, have it."

Eridan's smugness made Sollux roll his eyes, and he didn't quite believe his purple streaked roommate, despite a small part of him that wanted to. "Whatever, asshole," he replied. "Just order my damn food."

"Not your brightest move, insultin' a guy who's payin' for your dinner," Eridan pointed out as he pulled out his iPhone, which was donned in some boring purple plastic case.

"But you're still going to order my food so it shouldn't matter anyways," Sollux retorted, getting up off the uncomfortable couch and heading back to his room. It had been a few hours since he'd taken his pills, and he could tell by the way he was acting that another dosage was required, if not now then sometime soon. With that, he figured that any excuse to go back to his room for even a few minutes was a good one.

As he entered his room and took his second dosage, swallowing the pills dry like usual, he could hear Eridan talking on the phone all the way from down the hall.

"Hello...oh, hey Nep! How's it goin'?...Oh, well that's just great! Another one?...That means you have four, right?..."

He doesn't sound like he's fucking ordering, Sollux thought, unable to help himself from continuing to listen in to the conversation.

As much as Eridan seemed to irk him in almost every sort of way, there was something about the guy that made Sollux...almost entertained. He didn't quite understand why, but despite the majority of him wanting to slam Eridan into a fucking wall a million times until he finally shut the fuck up, there was a small part of him that almost wanted to know more about him.

That thought made him want to throw himself out a window, but despite its repugnant consequences, it was still there nonetheless.

"...Yeah, I was callin' to order," Eridan said as Sollux focused back onto the conversation. Finally the prick was ordering!

"Yeah, I'll take my usual, you remember that I'm sure, and an order of that honey chicken shit...who am I orderin' that for? Oh, I got a roomie, didn't I tell ya?"

And that was where Sollux had had enough of the conversation, so he stood up and quickly shut the door, thankfully blocking out the rest of Eridan's blabber.

But not even ten minutes later though, as he finally settled back into his former position before the Chinese food event - leaning against the wall with the earbuds in his ears blasting out one of his favorite dubstep mixes and his Minecraft game open on the screen - there was a quick knock on the door, followed by Eridan poking his head in, effectively ruining Sollux's return to peace.

"Foods here!" he chirped. "Come an' get it!"

Before Sollux could respond, the door shut once again. Sollux groaned at the fact that he actually had to move again, but he moved his laptop, got up, and trudged to the kitchen, hoping that Eridan wasn't lying about his chicken.

As Sollux entered the kitchen though, the distinct smell of greasy honey chicken proved to him that Eridan had, in fact, been telling the whole truth.

And Sollux was incredibly relieved.

Eridan was already sitting at the table, and had even taken the courtesy to unpack the plastic bag that had held both of their take out boxes, steaming with the food inside of them. He looked up as Sollux entered, and started to say something. However, Sollux didn't hesitate to just grab his food and quickly scamper back to his room, not giving Eridan the chance to say the words that were about to leave his mouth.

Plopping back down on the floor and practically tearing open the styrofoam take out box, Sollux was glad to see that there was a set of plastic utensils in the container, as well as a fortune cookie. Being the type to always eat the cookie first, he decided to snap the cookie open and read the fortune:

_Your next adventure will being greatness to your life. Be glad you took every risk you did!_


End file.
